At first glance the Crucial V4 256GB is the antithesis of current SSDs since it fails to deliver convincing performance wins over its brethren. However, the V4 still provides HDD-destroying benchmark numbers and 256GB of capacity alongside a price of under $180.

I hope that there will be a product with a similiar philosophy that will eventually replace all HDD boot drives in OEM systems...i really hate being tech support for people with HDD boot drives (which is everyone that needs tech support).

First you flip. This is an excellent idea and product. The manufacturers should make more like this.
Then you flop. For a little extra you can do much, much better.
You come across as a speech writer for Mitt Romney.
You say one thing then turn right around and bite yourself on your own ass.
Doesn't matter. I've always liked you people and I guess I always will.
Keep your sights low.

kzinti1, I edited out the more insulting portions of your post just to avoid a flame-war but I am leaving it as is otherwise.

Believe it or not, the conclusion reflects our thoughts on this product perfectly. On one hand we all love high performance (and the V4 certainly doesn't give that) but for its intended market, the V4 is a perfectly acceptable solution. It isn't only high performance that makes an SSD a good fit for a given niche but at the same time, people expectations are needlessly high right now anyways.

First you flip. This is an excellent idea and product. The manufacturers should make more like this.
Then you flop. For a little extra you can do much, much better.
You come across as a speech writer for Mitt Romney.
You say one thing then turn right around and bite yourself on your own ass.
Doesn't matter. I've always liked you people and I guess I always will.
Keep your sights low.

Actually I take the Mitt Romney snark as a compliment. I would be honoured to work for someone who was actually successful (at anything besides being a community organizer and race baiting) and then willing to serve the public (and lose a lot of money in the process). What has Oblahblah done besides tack on 5T in debt make things worse AND talk down to people for his entire 4yr term? Now there is some speech writes who like to talk out of both sides of their mouths.

Either way it is OT, but Thank you for the compliment (though I consider myself more a Paul Ryan supporter than main stream Repub supporter)....and remember before you vote in November...when you are at the edge of a cliff do you put the car in "D" or do you put the transmission in "R" and get back on safe ground? ;)

As for the rest. Nothing in this world is black or white. Stop trying to fit everything into your little boxes. Not everyone who reads a SSD review has the same needs, wants, desires or even budget. Writing a conclusion for one group and ignoring all the rest would be a great disservice to our readers. You may think otherwise. Its a free country after all.

The V4 is a good product desinged for older rigs. Does it succeed very well at its intended goal? Yes. More mfg'ers SHOULD be looking at this overlooked market. Hell, at an even more basic level YOU should be clamoring for more of these type of drive. Do you think prices of the bleeding edge SSDs have dropped out of the kindness of the mfg'ers hearts? No. It is value line SSDs that are driving prices ever lower. Dont like the V4? Fine. BUT respect what Crucial has done for the consumers with this drive.

Does the V4 compete against the M4, Samsung 830 or even Agility 4? No. It cant. It was never meant to. It would be like complaining about passenger seating on a MOTORCYCLE and trying to compare it to a school bus. Apples and oranges. BUT we did not want to give the wrong impression (once again going back to multiple different groups of readers). If you have a new 2011/2012 rig with native SATA 6 ports then yeah you will most likely be disappointed by the performance. Water is wet. Sky is blue. Etc etc etc. If you see that as flip flopping well, I am truly sorry that is the case but I will continue to take all groups into consideration when writing a conclusion.

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"If you ever start taking things too seriously, just remember that we are talking monkeys on an organic spaceship flying through the universe." -JR

“if your opponent has a conscience, then follow Gandhi. But if you enemy has no conscience, like Hitler, then follow Bonhoeffer.” - Dr. MLK jr